Travel by Republicans has made up more than two-thirds of all privately sponsored congressional trips in 2019, thanks largely to one sponsor.
So far this year, Republicans members of Congress and their staffers have accepted a combined 791 trips worth more than $1.77 million, according to LegiStorm data. Democrats have taken only 392 trips, worth $1.13 million, in the same time period.
The Congressional Institute, currently the largest sponsor by number of trips, has spent more than $357,000 on retreats for 407 congressional Republicans so far in 2019.
The American Israel Education Foundation, a sister organization to the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbying group, has so far sponsored the most by total cost, dropping more than $407,000 on travel to Israel for a bipartisan group of 29 staffers.
The Congressional Institute, AIEF and other interest groups spend such large sums on international travel in the hopes of making and influencing congressional allies, who get immersed for days in issues from the organization's point of view.
